Luc Besson loves the ocean. In fact he loves it so much that for a time he considered playing the main character in his diving epic, The Big Blue, himself, because he felt such an affinity with the character. As a result, between stunning the world with Nikita and doing the same again with Leon, he went under the waves to make a documentary about life beneath the sea, with the result being Atlantis.
Apart from some pompous narration at the very beginning and some poncy title cards that take us from location to location and animal to animal, Atlantis is wordless, instead relying on its visuals of animals from sea snakes to turtles and sharks to sea lions, and the constant score by Eric Serra. To be honest, while filled with beautiful imagery and certainly showing off the incredible world beneath the waves, it’s difficult not to feel that series like The Blue Planet and much else that the BBC Naural History Unit has produced are just as good looking (if not more so) and more informative than Besson’s effort.
However there’s no doubt it contains a lot of intensely striking pictures and it looks incredibly good in HD. Massive shoals of fish in particular are stunning, as are shots of tropical reefs. There a little grain with some of the night-time shots, and there’s little Besson could do about the fact some bits of the sea are murkier than others, but these are minor issues, as largely it’s all incredibly pretty, with very good picture quality.
As mentioned, it’s not the best underwater documentary ever made, and if it weren’t directed by Besson it’s unlikely it would have got an HD release, but it’s nevertheless very beautiful to look at, and explores all sorts of underwater habitats and animals, so if you’re looking for a slightly hypnotic mood-piece, you could do far worse.
Overall Verdict: An very beautiful journey through the world beneath the names, but if you want to really learn about the oceans, you're better off looking elsewhere.
Special Features:
Trailer
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
